Does Advertising Mitigate the Negative Effects of Losing on Satisfaction and Conative Aspects of Sport Attendance? A Case Study in Intercollegiate Athletics

It has been determined that advertising tends to mitigate a negative trial effect among low-product-involvement consumers when it precedes the negative trial but has no impact on beliefs and attitudes when the trial is positive. This case study investigated the effect of advertisements on sport consumers’ satisfaction and conative loyalty in spectating sport. Specifically, the authors examined spectators who were novice attendees at an intercollegiate men’s basketball game (N = 206). Two groups (home team winning, home team losing) were investigated to determine whether advertising mitigated the negative product–trial effect (losing). The results indicated that although advertising did not mitigate losing specific to immediate satisfaction with the game outcome or decision to attend, it did seem to mitigate losing on conative loyalty.